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Open Folder Icon - Change

This will show you how to change the active icon used to indicate which folder is expanded or opened in the Windows Explorer Navigation Pane, Start Menu All Programs, and registryfolder tree to any custom icon that you want instead in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Warning

You can only do this while logged in to a administrator account.

This will affect all user account's active open folder icons on the computer.

EXAMPLE: Active Open FolderNOTE: This is the Windows Explorer navigation with the default open folder icon (left screenshot) and a custom open folder icon (right screenshot).

OPTION ONE

To Change Default Open Folder Icon

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press click/tap on OK.

2. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.

3. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

4. In the left pane, right click on the Explorer key, and click on New and Key. (See screenshot above)

6. In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on an empty space, and click on New and String Value. Type 4, and press Enter. (see screen shot below)

7. Double click/tap on 4 to modify it. (see screenshot above)

8. Type in the full path of the icon that you want to use as the new open folder icon. (See screenshot below)NOTE: If you change the icon's location (path), then you must also change the location here in step 8 as well for the folder to still display that icon in Windows Explorer.

Tip

These are some good icon paths to use:

C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,-290

C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,-246

9. The registry will now look similar to this with your icon path under the Data column in the right pane instead. (see screenshot below)

10. Close Regedit.

11. Log off and Log on, or restart the computer to apply the new open folder icon.

OPTION TWO

To Restore Default Open Folder Icon

NOTE:This option assumes that you did OPTION ONE above to change the default folder icon.

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press click/tap on OK.

Brink - Is there anyway to get the folder icon with the four preview files from Windows XP? This was a great way to preview files in a directory. I see a number of people looking for the same thing but no answers.

Hello, I have a problem with this. So i've used your tutorial for making closed folder, and i want to have both folders the same(opened and closed), but when i put string value 3 and 4 only one of them works(the first one i've put in). That happens if i have disabled "show icons, never pictures" at folder options. So i'm asking if there is a way to have both closed and opened folder the same and if there is the way to still have enabled showing pictures and not just icons.
I'm sorry of wrote anything wrong i'm still learning english. Thank you.

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